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For fans of id Software’s games, which include Wolfenstein 3-D, Doom, and Quake, John Carmack is a god. This makes his thoughts on developing for the iPhone particularly enlightening. Macworld recently spoke with Carmack, who seemed gung-ho about developing for the iPhone.

The piece goes over Carmack’s progress with developing for the iPhone, from his first release, Wolfenstein Classic, to Doom Ressurection (which he admits was limited by his previous conception of how far you could take games on the iPhone), to Doom Classic, which just released on the app store a few weeks ago. He also revealed that they’re working on Doom II RPG next, and that he feels comfortable enough to attempt a Quake port in the future that utilizes two joysticks. We can also expect an iPhone companion to id’s upcoming FPS, Rage.

I’m glad to see that such a major PC gaming mastermind seems potential in Apple’s platform, but I do wonder how far we can take gaming on the iPhone, as well as other smartphone competitors that only feature a large touch screen. I’ve played quite a few games that have attempted virtual buttons on the iPhone, including Carmack’s Wolfenstein port, and the experience has always left me wishing there were dedicated buttons available on the device.

I’m honestly more excited about the original games being developed for the iPhone that are built with its control limitations in mind.  We can really only go so far with virtual buttons. Potentially, we may also see some sort of accessory down the line featuring a directional pad, analog stick, and real buttons that you can plug the iPhone into–although historically similar accessories have never proven popular. Apple’s made a business of defying convention though, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they make a stab at an accessory like this for better gaming support.

[Source: Macworld]